Family favorites from our kitchen, posted here so I can find them again!

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Miss Shirley's Cafe

Time for another restaurant review. On New Year's Day we went to Baltimore to meet my sister-in-law, her hubby, and oh so cute 6 month old son for brunch. They were in town from New Hampshire for a wedding and figured since we were sort of close, it'd be nice to see us. It's really hard picking a restaurant for brunch in a city you've only been to a couple of times that's open for brunch on New Year's day, family friendly for a 6 month old, and that all the others are going to enjoy. So I scoped out the internet and came across Miss Shirley's Cafe. Wow!, did I pick a good one!

So after dragging ourselves out of bed, we hit the road to Charm City. Fortunately there was no traffic that early. We found a parking place and met the gang at Miss Shirley's. We got there at a good time and were seated right away. The wait staff was really friendly and attentive - he totally got that a plain bagel was what would keep the baby happy and gave an awesome suggestion for my meal. They serve breakfast and lunch all day (they're open until mid-afternoon) which was nice, plenty of choices for everyone. I'd say Miss Shirley's is for slightly more adventurous eaters, nothing plain Jane about it. Rosie Jane and Maggie had the mini-waffles, Rosie Jane with blueberries; both had a side of bacon. My brother-in-law had Coconut Cream Stuffed French toast; Sweet Pea had the Pratt Street Cheesburger. Bob had Steak and Eggs and I "Got My Grits On" with shrimp.

From all the empty plates I saw, everyone enjoyed their meals. I will probably dream about the shrimp and grits! When he first brought out my plate, I was thinking it wasn't very much food. I was so wrong! My plate had three slices of fried green tomatoes, on top of each was some savory grits, then on top of that was two jumbo blackened shrimp. It was SO good! Everything was cooked great, the flavors were nice, and it was just the right size. I did manage to eat one of Bob's fried green tomatoes and also a couple of bites of Sweet Pea's salad (she was too full from her rather large burger to eat much salad).

The atmosphere was nice, great food, good company. All in all a good morning and a great way to start the New Year.